Task Merging
AssigneeImagination Technologies Limited
InventorsRoger Hernando Buch, Panagiotis Velentzas, Richard Broadhurst, Xile Yang, John W. Howson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for merging tasks in a graphics pipeline in which, subsequent to a trigger to flush a tag buffer, one or more tasks from the flushed tag buffer are generated, each task comprising a reference to a program and plurality of fragments on which the program is to be executed, wherein a fragment is an element of a primitive at a sample position. It is then determined whether merging criteria are satisfied and if satisfied, one or more fragments from a next tag buffer flush are added to a last task of the one or more tasks generated from the flushed tag buffer.
Claims19
A method of generating tasks in a tile-based graphics pipeline, the method comprising, subsequent to a trigger to flush a tag buffer:
- generating one or more tasks from the flushed tag buffer, each task comprising a reference to a program and one or more fragments on which the program is to be executed, wherein a fragment is an element of a primitive at a sample position;
- determining whether predefined merging criteria are satisfied;
- and
- in response to determining that the merging criteria are satisfied, adding one or more fragments from a next tag buffer flush to a last task of the one or more tasks generated from the flushed tag buffer.
A tile-based graphics pipeline comprising:
- a tag buffer;
- and
- hardware logic arranged, subsequent to a trigger to flush the tag buffer, to:
- generate one or more tasks from the flushed tag buffer, each task comprising a reference to a program and one or more fragments on which the program is to be executed, wherein a fragment is an element of a primitive at a sample position;
- determine whether predefined merging criteria are satisfied;
- and
- in response to determining that the merging criteria are satisfied, add one or more fragments from a next tag buffer flush to a last task of the one or more tasks generated from the flushed tag buffer.
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer readable instructions that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
- generate one or more tasks from a flushed tag buffer, each task comprising a reference to a program and one or more fragments on which the program is to be executed, wherein a fragment is an element of a primitive at a sample position;
- determine whether predefined merging criteria are satisfied;
- and
- in response to determining that the merging criteria are satisfied, add one or more fragments from a next tag buffer flush to a last task of the one or more tasks generated from the flushed tag buffer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.